
The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of
societal collapse in the
Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the
Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...
and
Near East
The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
, in particular
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, the
Aegean,
eastern Libya, and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
. The collapse was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
civilizations, creating a sharp material decline for the region's previously existing powers.
The
palace economy of
Mycenaean Greece, the
Aegean region, and
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
that characterized the Late Bronze Age disintegrated, transforming into the small isolated village cultures of the
Greek Dark Ages, which lasted from to , and were followed by the better-known
Archaic Age. The
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
spanning Anatolia and the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
collapsed, while states such as the
Middle Assyrian Empire in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and the
New Kingdom of Egypt
The New Kingdom, also called the Egyptian Empire, refers to ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. This period of History of ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian history covers the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth, ...
survived in weakened forms. Other cultures such as the
Phoenicians enjoyed increased autonomy and power with the waning military presence of Egypt and Assyria in
West Asia
West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...
.
Competing theories of the cause of the Late Bronze Age collapse have been proposed since the 19th century, with most involving the violent destruction of cities and towns. These include
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, volcanic eruptions, droughts, disease, invasions by the
Sea Peoples, economic disruptions due to increased
ironworking, and changes in
military technology
Military technology is the application of technology for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they lack useful or legal civilian application ...
and strategy that brought the decline of
chariot warfare. Following the collapse, gradual changes in
metallurgic technology led to the subsequent
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
across Europe, Asia, and Africa during the 1st millennium BC. Scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st century has articulated views of the collapse as being more limited in scale and scope than previously thought.
[ This is a detailed academic review of .]
Scholarship
The German historian
Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren first dated the Late Bronze Age collapse to 1200 BC. In an 1817 history of Ancient Greece, Heeren stated that the first period of Greek prehistory ended around this time, based on a dating of the fall of
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
to 1190 BC. In 1826, he dated the end of the
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt to around the same time. Additional events that have been dated to the first half of the 12th century BC include invasions by the
Sea Peoples, the fall of
Mycenaean Greece and
Kassites in
Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
, and the carving of the
Merneptah Stele, as well as the destruction of
Ugarit and the
Amorite states in the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
, the fragmentation of the
Luwian states of western
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, and a period of chaos in
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
. The deterioration of these governments interrupted trade routes and led to severely reduced literacy rates in much of this area.
Debate
Initially, historians believed that in the first phase of this period, almost every city between
Pylos
Pylos (, ; ), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of ...
and
Gaza was violently destroyed, and many were abandoned, including
Hattusa
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...
,
Mycenae
Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...
, and
Ugarit, with
Robert Drews claiming that, "Within a period of forty to fifty years at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the twelfth century, almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world was destroyed, many of them never to be occupied again."
However, more recent research has shown that Drews overestimated the number of destroyed cities and referenced destructions that never happened. According to Jesse Millek:
Ann Killebrew has shown that cities such as
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
were significant and important walled settlements in the West Asian Middle Bronze IIB and Iron Age IIC
periods ( and BC), but that during the intervening Late Bronze (LB) and Iron Age I and IIA/B Ages, sites like Jerusalem were small, relatively insignificant, and unfortified. Some recent writing argues that although some collapses may have happened in this period, these may not have been widespread.
Background
Advanced civilizations with extensive trade networks and complex sociopolitical institutions characterized the Late Bronze Age (–1200 BC).
Prominent societies (Egyptians, Hittites, Mesopotamians, and Mycenaeans) exhibited monumental architecture, advanced metallurgy, and literacy.
Flourishing trade in copper, timber, pottery, and agricultural goods,
as well as diplomatic ties progressively deepened their interdependence.
Geopolitical powers of the time relied on variations of the palace economy system, in which wealth is first concentrated in a centralized bureaucracy before being redistributed according to the sovereign's agenda, a system which primarily benefits the society's elite.
This intricate web of dependencies, coupled with the inflexibility of the palace system, exposed these civilizations to the cascading effects of distant disturbances.
Evidence
Anatolia

Many Anatolian sites were destroyed at the Late Bronze Age, and the area appears to have undergone extreme political decentralization. For much of the Late Bronze Age, Anatolia had been dominated by the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
, but by 1200 BC, the state was already fragmenting under the strain of famine, plague, and civil war. The Hittite capital of
Hattusa
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...
was burned at an unknown date in this general period, though it may in fact have been abandoned at that point. Karaoğlan, near present-day
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
, was burned and the corpses left unburied.
Many Anatolian sites have destruction layers dating to this general period. Some of them such as
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
were immediately rebuilt, while others such as
Kaymakçı were abandoned.
This period appears to have also been a time of migration. For instance, some evidence that the
Phrygians arrived in Anatolia during this period, possibly through the
Bosporus
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...
or over the Caucasus Mountains.
Initially, the Assyrian Empire maintained a presence in the area. However, it gradually withdrew from much of the region for a time in the second half of the 11th century.
Cyprus
During the reign of the Hittite king
Tudḫaliya IV (reigned c. 1237–1209 BC), the island was briefly invaded by the Hittites, either to secure the
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
resource or as a way of preventing
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
. Shortly afterwards, the island was reconquered by his son
Suppiluliuma II around 1200 BC.
There is little evidence of destruction on the island of Cyprus in the years surrounding 1200 BC which marks the separation between the
Late Cypriot II (LCII) from the LCIII period.
The city of
Kition is commonly cited as destroyed at the end of the LC IIC, but the excavator, Vassos Karageorghis, made it expressly clear that it was not destroyed, stating, "At Kition, major rebuilding was carried out in both excavated Areas I and II, but there is no evidence of violent destruction; on the contrary, we observe a cultural continuity." Jesse Millek has demonstrated that while it is possible that the city of Enkomi was destroyed, the archaeological evidence is not clear. Of the two buildings dating to the end of the LC IIC excavated at Enkomi, both had limited evidence of burning and most rooms were without any kind of damage. The same can be said for the site of Sinda as it is not clear if it was destroyed since only some ash was found but no other evidence that the city was destroyed like fallen walls or burnt rubble. The only settlement on Cyprus that has clear evidence it was destroyed around 1200 BC was
Maa Palaeokastro, which was likely destroyed by some sort of attack, though the excavators were not sure who attacked it, saying, "We might suggest that
he attackerswere 'pirates', 'adventurers' or remnants of the 'Sea Peoples', but this is simply another way of saying that we do not know."
Several settlements on Cyprus were abandoned at the end of the LC IIC or during the first half of the 12th century BC without destruction such as Pyla
Kokkinokremmos, Toumba tou Skourou, Alassa, and Maroni-Vournes.
In a trend which appears to go against much of the Eastern Mediterranean at this time, several areas of Cyprus, Kition and Paphos, appear to have flourished after 1200 BC during the LC IIIA rather than experiencing any sort of downturn.
Greece
Destruction was heaviest at palaces and fortified sites, and none of the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age survived (with the possible exception of the
Cyclopean
Cyclopean masonry is a type of masonry, stonework found in Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal Engineering tolerance, clearance between adjacent stones and with clay ...
fortifications on the
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...
). Thebes was one of the earliest examples of this, having its palace sacked repeatedly between 1300 and 1200 BC and eventually completely destroyed by fire. The extent of this destruction is highlighted by Robert Drews, who reasons that the destruction was such that Thebes did not resume a significant position in Greece until at least the late 12th century BC. Many other sites offer less conclusive causes; for example it is unclear what happened at Athens, although it is clear that the settlement saw a significant decline during the Bronze Age Collapse. While there is no evidence of remnants of a destroyed palace or central structure, a change in location of living quarters and burial sites demonstrates a significant recession. Furthermore, the increase in fortification at this site suggests much fear of the decline in Athens.
Vincent Desborough asserts that this is evidence of later migrations away from the city in reaction to its initial decline, although a significant population did remain. It remains possible that this emigration from Athens was not flight from violence. Nancy Demand posits that environmental changes could have played an important role in the collapse of Athens. In particular Demand notes the presence of "enclosed and protected means of access to water sources at Athens" as evidence of persistent droughts in the region that could have resulted in a fragile reliance on imports.
Up to 90% of small sites in the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...
were abandoned, suggesting a major depopulation. Again, as with many of the sites of destruction in Greece, it is unclear how a lot of this destruction came about. The city of Mycenae for example was initially destroyed in an earthquake in 1250 BC as evidenced by the presence of crushed bodies buried in collapsed buildings.
However, the site was rebuilt only to face destruction in 1190 BC as the result of a series of major fires. There is a suggestion by Robert Drews that the fires could have been the result of an attack on the site and its palace; however,
Eric Cline points out the lack of archaeological evidence for an attack. Thus, while fire was definitely the cause of the destruction, it is unclear what or who caused it. A similar situation occurred
Tiryns in 1200 BC, when an earthquake destroyed much of the city including its palace. It is likely however that the city continued to be inhabited for some time following the earthquake. As a result, there is a general agreement that earthquakes did not permanently destroy Mycenae or Tiryns because, as is highlighted by Guy Middleton, "Physical destruction then cannot fully explain the collapse".
Drews points out that there was continued occupation at these sites, accompanied by attempts to rebuild, demonstrating the continuation of Tiryns as a settlement. Demand suggests instead that the cause could again be environmental, particularly the lack of homegrown food and the important role of palaces in managing and storing food imports, implying that their destruction only stood to exacerbate the more crucial factor of food shortage.
The importance of trade as a factor is supported by , who points out the lack of evidence for violent or sudden decline in Mycenae.
Pylos offers some more clues to its destruction, as the intensive and extensive destruction by fire around 1180 BC reflects the violent destruction of the city. There is some evidence of Pylos expecting a seaborne attack, with tablets at Pylos discussing "Watchers guarding the coast". Eric Cline rebuts the idea that this is evidence of an attack by Sea People, pointing out that the tablet does not say what is being watched for or why. Cline does not see naval attacks as playing a role in Pylos's decline. Demand, however, argues that, regardless of what the threat from the sea was, it likely played a role in the decline, at least in hindering trade and perhaps vital food imports.
The Bronze Age collapse marked the start of what has been called the
Greek Dark Ages, which lasted roughly 400 years and ended with the establishment of
Archaic Greece
Archaic Greece was the period in History of Greece, Greek history lasting from to the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, following the Greek Dark Ages and succeeded by the Classical Greece, Classical period. In the archaic period, the ...
. Other cities, such as
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, continued to be occupied, but with a more local sphere of influence, limited evidence of trade and an impoverished culture, from which it took centuries to recover.
These sites in Greece show evidence of the collapse:
Knossos
Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...
,
Kydonia,
Lefkandi,
Menelaion
The archaeological site of Menelaion (translit. Menelaeion) () is located approximately 5 km from the modern city of Sparta. The geographical structure of this site includes a hill complex (Northern hill, Menelaion, Profitis Ilias and Aetos ...
,
Mycenae
Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...
,
Nichoria,
Pylos
Pylos (, ; ), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of ...
, ,
Thebes,
Tiryns, and
Iolkos, .
Egypt

While it survived the Bronze Age collapse, the Egyptian Empire of the
New Kingdom era receded considerably in territorial and economic strength during the mid-twelfth century (during the reign of
Ramesses VI, 1145 to 1137). Previously, the
Merneptah Stele () spoke of attacks (Libyan War) from Putrians (from modern
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
), with associated people of
Ekwesh,
Shekelesh,
Lukka,
Shardana and
Teresh (possibly an Egyptian name for the
Tyrrhenians
Tyrrhenians (Attic Greek: ''Turrhēnoi'') or Tyrsenians ( Ionic: ''Tursēnoi''; Doric: ''Tursānoi'') was the name used by the ancient Greeks authors to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek people, in particular pirates.
While ancient so ...
or
Troas), and a Canaanite revolt, in the cities of
Ashkelon,
Yenoam and among the people of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. A second attack (
Battle of the Delta and
Battle of Djahy) during the reign of
Ramesses III (1186–1155) involved
Peleset,
Tjeker,
Shardana, and
Denyen.
The Nubian War, the First Libyan War, the Northern War and the Second Libyan War were all victories for Ramesses. Due to this, however, the economy of Egypt fell into decline and state treasuries were nearly bankrupt. By defeating the Sea Peoples,
Libyans, and
Nubians, the territory around Egypt was safe during the collapse of the Bronze Age, but military campaigns in Asia depleted the economy. With his victory over the Sea Peoples, Ramesses III stated: "My sword is great and mighty like that of
Montu. No land can stand fast before my arms. I am a king rejoicing in slaughter. My reign is calmed in peace." With this claim, Ramesses implied that his reign was safe in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse.

Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant was a protracted process lasting about a hundred years and most likely a product of the political turmoil in Egypt proper. Many Egyptian garrisons or sites with an "Egyptian governor's residence" in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction, including
Deir al-Balah,
Ashkelon,
Tel Mor,
Tell el-Far'ah (South),
Tel Gerisa,
Tell Jemmeh,
Tel Masos, and
Qubūr al-Walaydah.
Not all Egyptian sites in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison at Aphek was destroyed, likely by warfare, at the end of the 13th century. The Egyptian gate complex uncovered at Jaffa was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134 and 1115 based on C14 dates, while
Beit She'an was partially destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century.
The Levant
Egyptian evidence shows that from the reign of
Horemheb (ruled either 1319 or 1306 to 1292 BC), wandering
Shasu were more problematic than the earlier
ʿApiru.
Ramesses II
Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
(r. 1279–1213 BC) campaigned against them, pursuing them as far as
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
, where he established a fortress after a near defeat at the
Battle of Kadesh
The Battle of Kadesh took place in the 13th century BC between the New Kingdom of Egypt, Egyptian Empire led by pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittites, Hittite Empire led by king Muwatalli II. Their armies engaged each other at the Orontes River, ...
. During the reign of
Merneptah, the
Shasu threatened the "
Way of Horus
Way or WAY may refer to:
Paths
* a road, Thoroughfare, route, trail, path or pathway, including long-distance paths
* a Way_(machine_tool_element), straight rail or track on a machine tool (such as that on the Lathe (metal)#Bed, bed of a lathe) o ...
" north from Gaza. Evidence shows that
Deir Alla (
Succoth) was destroyed, likely by an earthquake, after the reign of the female pharoah
Tausret (r. 1191–1189 BC) though the date of this destruction appears to be much later dating to roughly 1150 BC.
There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in the southern Levant was destroyed around 1200 BC.
At
Lachish, the Fosse Temple III was ritually terminated while a house in Area S appears to have burned in a house fire as the most severe evidence of burning was next to two ovens while no other part of the city had evidence of burning. After this, the city was rebuilt more lavishly than before. For Megiddo, most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain.
While the monumental structures at Hazor were indeed destroyed, this destruction was in the mid-13th century long before the end of the Late Bronze Age began. However, many sites were not burned to the ground around 1200 BC including: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Tell es-Safi, Tel Batash, Tel Burna, Tel Dor, Tel Gerisa, Tell Jemmeh, Khirbet Rabud, Tel Zeror, and Tell Abu Hawam among others.
During the reign of Ramesses III,
Philistines were allowed to resettle the coastal strip from Gaza to Joppa,
Denyen (possibly the
tribe of Dan in the Bible, or more likely the people of Adana, also known as Danuna, part of the Hittite Empire) settled from
Joppa to
Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
, and
Tjekker in Acre. The sites quickly achieved independence, as the ''
Story of Wenamun'' shows.
Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 in the southern Levant, there is ample evidence that trade with other regions continued after the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriote and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade in Cypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300 BC, while for Mycenaean pottery, this trade ended at 1250 BC, and destruction around 1200 BC could not have affected either pattern of international trade since it ended before the end of the Late Bronze Age. He has also demonstrated that trade with Egypt continued after 1200 BC. Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade in tin, a non-local metal necessary to make bronze, did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest sources of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England. Lead from Sardinia was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age.
These sites in the
Southern Levant show evidence of the collapse:
Akko,
Ashdod,
Ashkelon,
Bethel, Beth Shemesh,
Deir 'Alla (Sukkot),
Tel Hazor
Tel Hazor (), translated in LXX as Hasōr (), and in Arabic Tell Waqqas or Tell Qedah el-Gul (), is an archaeological Tell (archaeology), tell at the site of ancient Hazor, located in the Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northe ...
,
Tel Lachish, and
Tel Megiddo.
Mesopotamia
The
Middle Assyrian Empire (1392–1056 BC) had destroyed the Hurrian-Mitanni Empire, annexed much of the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
and eclipsed the
Egyptian Empire. At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age collapse, it controlled an empire stretching from the
Caucasus Mountains in the north to the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
in the south, and from
Ancient Iran
The history of Iran (also known as Name of Iran, Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, which is a socio-cultural region encompassing all of the areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence exerted by the Iranian peoples and ...
in the east to
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in the west. However, in the 12th century BC, Assyrian satrapies in
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
came under attack from the
Mushki (who may have been
Phrygians) and those in the Levant from Arameans, but
Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser I (; from the Hebraic form of , "my trust is in the son of Ešarra") was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period (1114–1076 BC). According to Georges Roux, Tiglath-Pileser was "one of the two or three great Assyri ...
(reigned 1114–1076 BC) was able to defeat and repel these attacks, conquering the attackers. The Middle Assyrian Empire survived intact throughout much of this period, with Assyria dominating and often ruling Babylonia directly, and controlling southeastern and southwestern
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, northwestern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and much of northern and central
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
, as far as the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
.
[Georges Roux, ''Ancient Iraq'']
The Arameans and
Phrygians were subjugated, and Assyria and its colonies were not threatened by the
Sea Peoples who had ravaged Egypt and much of the East Mediterranean, and the Assyrians often conquered as far as
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
and the
East Mediterranean. However, after the death of
Ashur-bel-kala in 1056, Assyria withdrew to areas close to its natural borders, encompassing what is today northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, the fringes of northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. It still retained a stable monarchy, the best army in the world, and an efficient civil administration, enabling it to survive the Bronze Age Collapse intact. Assyrian written records remained numerous and the most consistent in the world during the period, and the Assyrians were still able to mount long range military campaigns in all directions when necessary. From the late 10th century BC, Assyria once more asserted itself internationally, and the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
grew to be the largest the world had yet seen.
The situation in Babylonia was very different. After the Assyrian withdrawal, it was still subject to periodic Assyrian (and
Elamite) subjugation, and new groups of Semitic speakers such as the
Arameans
The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered c ...
and
Suteans (and in the period after the Bronze Age Collapse,
Chaldeans also) spread unchecked into Babylonia from the Levant, and the power of its weak kings barely extended beyond the city limits of Babylon. Babylon was sacked by the
Elamites under
Shutruk-Nahhunte (c. 1185–1155 BC), and lost control of the
Diyala River valley to Assyria.
Syria
Ancient Syria had been initially dominated by a number of indigenous
Semitic-speaking peoples. The
East Semitic-speaking polities of
Ebla
Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ...
and the
Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (city), Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and Sumerian languag ...
and the
Northwest Semitic-speaking Amorites ("Amurru") and the people of Ugarit were prominent among them. Syria during this time was known as "The land of the Amurru".
Before and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Syria became a battleground between the Hittites, the Middle Assyrian Empire, the Mitanni and the New Kingdom of Egypt between the 15th and late 13th centuries BC, with the Assyrians destroying the Hurri-Mitanni empire and annexing much of the Hittite empire. The Egyptian empire had withdrawn from the region after failing to overcome the Hittites and being fearful of the ever-growing Assyrian might, leaving much of the region under Assyrian control until the late 11th century BC. Later the coastal regions came under attack from the
Sea Peoples. During this period, from the 12th century BC, the incoming
Northwest Semitic-speaking Arameans came to demographic prominence in Syria, the region outside of the Canaanite-speaking
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n coastal areas eventually came to speak
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
and the region came to be known as
Aramea and
Eber Nari.
The
Babylonians belatedly attempted to gain a foothold in the region during their brief revival under
Nebuchadnezzar I in the 12th century BC, but they too were overcome by their Assyrian neighbors. The modern term "Syria" is a later Indo-European corruption of "Assyria", which only became formally applied to the Levant during the
Seleucid Empire (323–150 BC) (see
Etymology of Syria).
Levantine sites previously showed evidence of trade links with
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
(
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
,
Akkad, Assyria and
Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
),
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
(Hattia, Hurria, Luwia and later the Hittites), Egypt and the
Aegean in the Late Bronze Age. Evidence at Ugarit shows that the destruction there occurred after the reign of Merneptah (r. 1213–1203 BC) and even the fall of
Chancellor Bay (d. 1192 BC). The last Bronze Age king of Ugarit,
Ammurapi, was a contemporary of the last-known Hittite king,
Suppiluliuma II. The exact dates of his reign are unknown.
A letter by the king is preserved on one of the clay tablets found baked in the conflagration of the destruction of the city. Ammurapi stresses the seriousness of the crisis faced by many Levantine states due to attacks. In response to a plea for assistance from the king of
Alasiya, Ammurapi highlights the desperate situation Ugarit faced in letter RS 18.147:
Eshuwara, the senior governor of Cyprus, responded in letter RS 20.18:
The ruler of
Carchemish sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit was sacked. Letter RS 19.011 (KTU 2.61)
[ The URL was for a particular illustration. That e-library resource appears to have moved t]
a webpage
now hosted by Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, but the actual image does not load there as of February 2025 due to server misconfiguration, and is also not recoverable from the Web.Archive.org copy. sent from Ugarit following the destruction read:
This quote is frequently interpreted as "the degraded one", referring to the army being humiliated, destroyed, or both. The letter is also quoted with the final statement "Mayst thou know it"/"May you know it" repeated twice for effect in several later sources, while no such repetition appears to occur in the original.
The destruction levels of Ugarit contained Late Helladic IIIB ware, but no LH IIIC (see
Mycenaean Greece). Therefore, the date of the destruction is important for the dating of the LH IIIC phase. Since an Egyptian sword bearing the name of
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Merneptah was found in the destruction levels, 1190 BC was taken as the date for the beginning of the LH IIIC. A
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
tablet found in 1986 shows that Ugarit was destroyed after the death of Merneptah. It is generally agreed that Ugarit had already been destroyed by the eighth year of
Ramesses III, 1178 BC. Letters on clay tablets that were baked in the conflagration caused by the destruction of the city speak of attack from the sea, and a letter from
Alashiya (
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
) speaks of cities already being destroyed by attackers who came by sea.
There is clear evidence that Ugarit was destroyed in some kind of assault, though the exact assailant is not known. In one residential area called the Ville sud, thirty two arrowheads were found scattered throughout the area while twelve of the arrowheads were found on the streets and in the open spaces. Along with the arrowheads, two lance heads, four javelin heads, five bronze daggers, one bronze sword, and three bronze pieces of armor were scattered throughout the houses and streets suggesting a fight took place in this residential neighborhood. An additional twenty-five arrowheads were also recovered scattered around the city centre, all of which suggests the city was burnt by an assault not by an earthquake. At the city of Emar, on the Euphrates, at some time between 1187 and 1175 only the monumental and religious structures were targeted for destruction while the houses appear to have been emptied, abandoned and were not destroyed with the monumental structures which suggests that the city was burned by attackers even though no weapons were recovered.
While certain cities such as Ugarit and Emar were destroyed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, there are several others which were not destroyed even though they erroneously appear on most maps of destruction from the end of the Late Bronze Age. No evidence of destruction has been found at Hama, Qatna, Kadesh, Alalakh, and Aleppo, while for Tell Sukas, archaeologists only found some minor burning on some floors likely indicating that the town was not burned to the ground around 1200 BC.
The
West Semitic Arameans eventually superseded the earlier Amorites and people of Ugarit. The Arameans, together with the
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
ns and the Syro-Hittite states, came to dominate most of the region demographically; however, these people, and the Levant in general, were also conquered and dominated politically and militarily by the Middle Assyrian Empire until Assyria's withdrawal in the late 11th century BC, although the Assyrians continued to conduct military campaigns in the region. However, with the rise of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
in the late 10th century BC, the entire region once again fell to Assyria.
These sites in Syria show evidence of the collapse:
Alalakh,
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
,
Emar,
Hama,
Kadesh,
Qatna,
Tell Sukas, and
Ugarit.
Possible causes
Various mutually compatible explanations for the collapse have been proposed, including climatic changes, migratory invasions by groups such as the
Sea Peoples, the spread of iron
metallurgy, military developments, and a range of political, social and economic systems failures, but none have achieved consensus. Earthquakes have also been proposed as causal, but recent research suggests that earthquakes were not as influential as previously believed. It is likely that a combination of several factors is responsible.
General systems collapse theory, pioneered by
Joseph Tainter, proposes that
societal collapse results from an increase in
social complexity beyond a sustainable level, leading people to revert to simpler ways of life. The growing complexity and specialization of the Late Bronze Age political, economic, and social organization made the organization of civilization too intricate to reestablish once seriously disrupted. The critical flaws of the Late Bronze Age (its centralization, specialization, complexity, and top-heavy
political structure) were exposed by sociopolitical events (revolt of peasantry and defection of mercenaries), fragility of all kingdoms (Mycenaean, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Egyptian), demographic crises (overpopulation), and wars between states. Other factors that could have placed increasing pressure on the fragile kingdoms include piracy by the Sea Peoples interrupting maritime trade, as well as drought, crop failure and famine.
Drought
A diversion of midwinter storms from the Atlantic to north of the
Pyrenees and the Alps brought wetter conditions to Central Europe and drought to the Eastern Mediterranean near the time of the Late Bronze Age collapse.
During what may have been the driest era of the Late Bronze Age, tree cover of the Mediterranean forest dwindled. Juniper tree ring measurements in the Anatolia region demonstrate a severe dry period from c.1198 to c.1196 BC. In the Dead Sea region (The Southern Levant), the subsurface water level dropped by more than 50 meters during the end of the second millennium BC. According to the geography of that region, for water levels to drop so drastically the amount of rain the surrounding mountains received would have been dismal.
Using the
Palmer Drought Index for 35 Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern weather stations, it was shown that a persistent drought like the one that began in January 1972 AD would have affected all of the sites associated with the Late Bronze Age collapse.
Alternatively, changes at the end of the Bronze Age could be better characterized as a 'gear shift' in Mediterranean climate rather than an event of three years. The long-range shift in precipitation would not have been a crisis event, but rather a continual stress put on societies in the region over several generations. There was no one year where conditions became untenable, "nor one straw that broke the back of the camel".
Analysis of multiple lines of
paleoenvironmental evidence suggests climate change was one aspect associated with this period, but not the sole cause. This was also the conclusion reached by Knapp and Manning in 2016 who concluded that, "Based on a series of
proxy indicators, there is clearly some sort of shift to cooler and more arid and unstable conditions generally between the 13th and 10th centuries BC, but not necessarily any one key 'episode'; thus, there is a context for change but not necessarily its only or specific cause."
Moreover, Karakaya and Riehl's recent study of ancient plant remains from Syria showed little evidence that plants underwent water stress during the Late Bronze Age to Iron Age transition. As they summarize their research, "The emerging picture as concerns plant subsistence is that there is no clear evidence that the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age were periods of dearth and widespread famine, as some climate models have presupposed." A 2012 study suggested a rapid regional drop of 3-4 degrees Celsius in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and Middle East from the start of the collapse to the end of the
Greek Dark Ages based on measurements of nearby
sea surface temperatures and changes in marine
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
. Northern Hemisphere temperatures skyrocketed and precipitously plummeted during the collapse (a rapid rise of approximately 0.2 degrees during the first 10 years, followed by a decrease of 0.2 degrees in the next 40 years), and temperatures continued declining to their lowest levels (3-4 degrees of cooling) during the
Greek Dark Ages before slowly increasing to the
Roman Warm Period. There were rapid changes in
photosynthetic
Photosynthesis ( ) is a Biological system, system of biological processes by which Photoautotrophism, photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical ener ...
plankton during the collapse. The study provides evidence of rapid precipitation loss during the collapse from the paleoclimate record.
Ironworking
The Bronze Age collapse may be seen in the context of a technological history that saw the slow spread of
ironworking technology from present-day
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
in the 13th and the 12th centuries BC. Leonard R. Palmer suggested that
iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
, which is superior to bronze for weapons manufacturing, was in more plentiful supply and so allowed larger armies of iron users to overwhelm the smaller bronze-equipped armies that consisted largely of
Maryannu chariotry.
Migratory invasions
Primary sources report that the era was marked by
large-scale migration of people at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Drought in the Nile Valley also may have contributed to the rise of the Sea Peoples and their sudden migration across the eastern Mediterranean. It was suspected that crop failures, famine and the population reduction that resulted from the lackluster flow of the Nile and the migration of the Sea Peoples led to New Kingdom Egypt falling into political instability at the end of the Late Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. A general
systems collapse has been put forward as an explanation for the reversals in culture that occurred between the
Urnfield culture of the 13th and 12th centuries BC and the rise of the Celtic
Hallstatt culture in the 9th and 10th centuries BC.
Pandemic
Recent evidence suggests the collapse of the cultures in Mycenaean Greece, Hittite Anatolia, and the Levant may have been precipitated or worsened by the arrival of an early and now-extinct strain of the
bubonic plague brought from central Asia by the Sea Peoples or other migrating groups.
Volcanoes
Some Egyptologists have dated the
Hekla 3 volcanic eruption in Iceland to
1159 BC and blamed it for famines under
Ramesses III during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The event is thought to have caused a
volcanic winter. Other estimated dates for the Hekla 3 eruption range from 1021 (±130)
to 1135 BC (±130)
and 929 (±34). Other scholars prefer the neutral and vague "3000
BP".
Warfare
Robert Drews argues for the appearance of massed
infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
, using newly developed weapons and armour, such as
cast rather than
forged spearheads and
long swords, a revolutionizing cut-and-thrust weapon, and
javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...
s. The appearance of bronze foundries suggests "that mass production of bronze artefacts was suddenly important in the Aegean". For example,
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
uses "spears" as a
metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...
for "warriors".
Such new weaponry, in the hands of large numbers of "running
skirmishers", who could swarm and cut down a chariot army, would destabilize states that were based upon the use of chariots by the ruling class. That would precipitate an abrupt social collapse as raiders began to conquer, loot and burn cities.
Aftermath
Robert Drews described the collapse as "arguably the worst disaster in ancient history, even more calamitous than the
collapse of the Western Roman Empire".
[Drews 1993: 3] Cultural memories of the disaster told of a "lost
golden age". For example,
Hesiod spoke of Ages of Gold, Silver, and Bronze, separated from the cruel modern Age of Iron by the
Age of Heroes. Rodney Castleden suggests that memories of the Bronze Age collapse influenced
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's story of
Atlantis in ''
Timaeus'' and the ''
Critias''.
Only a few powerful states survived the Bronze Age collapse, particularly
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
(albeit temporarily weakened), the New Kingdom of Egypt (also weakened), the
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n city-states and
Elam. Even among these comparative survivors, success was mixed. By the end of the 12th century BC, Elam waned after its defeat by
Nebuchadnezzar I, who briefly revived Babylonian fortunes before suffering a series of defeats by the Assyrians. After the death of
Ashur-bel-kala in 1056 BC, Assyria declined for a century. Its empire shrank significantly by 1020 BC, apparently leaving it in control only of the areas in its immediate vicinity, although its heartland remained well-defended. By the time of
Wenamun, Phoenicia had regained independence from Egypt.
Gradually, by the end of the ensuing Dark Age, remnants of the Hittites coalesced into small
Syro-Hittite states in
Cilicia and in the Levant, where the new states were composed of mixed Hittite and
Aramean polities. Beginning in the mid-10th century BC, a series of small Aramean kingdoms formed in the Levant, and the
Philistines settled in southern Canaan, where Canaanite speakers had coalesced into a number of polities such as
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
,
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
,
Edom and
Ammon
Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...
.
See also
*
Greek Dark Agesperiod following the Late Bronze Age collapse
*
Iron Age Cold Epoch
*
Middle Bronze Age migrations (ancient Near East)
*
Migration Period
The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
similar period preceding the
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
*
Mycenology
*
Third Intermediate Period of Egypta similar period in Egypt
*
Late Harappan period,
Indo-Aryan migrationsevents and periods connected to the end of the
Bronze Age India
*
Israelite highland settlement, a process during the same period in Canaan
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*NPR Throughline podcast
The Aftermath of Collapse: Bronze Age Edition (2021)
{{Ancient Near East
Ancient Near East
Collapse
Collapse
12th century BC
Indo-European history
Iron Age
Prehistoric Asia
Societal collapse
Dark ages
Volcanic winters